


Split

by FallawayDun



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Angst, Drug Addiction, Fluff, M/M, Multiple Personalities, OCD, Self-Harm, Smut, Split AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-09-22 07:56:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9594410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallawayDun/pseuds/FallawayDun
Summary: Josh is sent to a psychiatric treatment & rehab facility, where he meets Tyler, a boy with multiple personalities.(A couple of Tyler's personalities are based off of characters by AlbumKids on tumblr! Jay is awesome, so go check her out !!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi ! Okay, I have 3 chapters of this done & I'm not sure where I'm going to go with this yet, but I wanted to post the first few chapters and see what kind of feedback it gets, so please leave kudos and comment your opinions & ideas !!

Josh can't believe he ended up here.  
  
He was 18, nearly done with school, nearly a dependent, but then he fucked it all up. He was dumb, left his coke and pills in his bedside drawer, not the optimal hiding spot. It was his mother's last straw and she stuck to her threat. Now Josh was here in Fairmont Psychiatric Treatment & Rehab Facility.  
  
He tore his gaze away from the ugly beige wall and back to the circle of people as he heard the counselor call his name. He raised a hand, to which he received a “Nice to meet you, Joshua.”

The counselor familiarized herself with the other new patients as everyone else sat quietly. Josh played with hands, his leg bouncing up and down anxiously. He was itching for a line.

All attention was averted to the large double doors as they were opened loudly. A boy was lead in by two large men in blue scrubs. The boy kept his head down, a tuft of brown hair blocking his face from view. He was placed in his chair, and the guards lingered behind him until the counselor signaled that it was okay for them to leave.

One of the guards nodded and pulled a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. The other grabbed the boy’s arm, and the patient winced.

“That won't be necessary.” The counselor interrupted. The guard looked up at her warningly, before hesitantly releasing the boy’s arm and following his colleague out of the room.

"It's good to see you, Tyler. I hope you are feeling better. I rescheduled your therapy session to 4pm this afternoon. I'd like to talk about last week’s incident as soon as possible. Is that alright? Tyler?" The boy (who Josh had deducted was named Tyler) did not seem to acknowledge the fact that he was being spoken to.

"Tyler." The counselor tried again. The other patients in the circle watched on patiently. She cleared her throat, "Titled?"

The boy snapped his head up, eyes wide as they darted around the circle, realizing everyone was staring. He had deep brown eyes, surrounded by grayish purple dark circles. His lips were red and plump, and looked like they were frequently bitten raw. Josh liked the way his nose turned up at the end, and though he was all dark features and sharp edges, he somehow seemed soft and boyish.

Panicked brown eyes met his for a split second, and Josh smiled softly at him. Tyler seemed to realize the counselor had asked him a question.

Tyler nodded quickly before putting his head back down. He played with the sleeves of his worn black hoodie, scratching harshly at his wrists through the fabric as the counselor began the session.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theres another full length fic I've been working on for a while, it's almost finished!
> 
> Can't wait to share it with you guys :)

Josh was woken up by a pounding headache and found himself drenched in a cold sweat. Upon sitting up, a wave of nausea crashed over him and he stumbled to the bathroom down the hall.

He fell to shaky knees in front of one of the toilets and dry heaved. Bits of yesterday's bacon and eggs came up, after that it was just bile.

He leaned back against the stall wall, holding his pounding head in his hands. Tremors racked through his body. It was his first 24 hours without coke, pills, weed, _anything_ , and his body was not handling it well.

“Hey, you okay?” He heard as someone shuffled over to him. He looked up to see a smaller boy with ginger hair and glasses.

Josh squeezed his eyes shut, the light making him nauseous again. He nodded, and winced in pain. Instead mumbling out a raspy “Yeah.”

The boy squatted next to him. “Withdrawal?”

Josh hummed in response. “Been through it before?”

The boy huffed, “Nah, my friend Brendon did when he first got here though. I recognize the symptoms. I'm Patrick by the way.”

“Josh.” He replied, groaning and leaning back over the toilet. He sputtered up more bile. Patrick cringed and patted his shoulder.

“This will pass. As shitty as this place seems, they know what they're doing. Brendon has made a complete turn around, and my compulsions have dulled by a million.”

Once Josh was sure the vomiting was over, he let Patrick help him to his feet. He washed his trembling hands in the sink. “Thanks man, I appreciate it.”

“Any time, my room is 214, feel free to come by anytime you'd like.”

They walked together back to their corridor, Patrick stopping every time Josh had to lean against the wall for a few seconds. Josh vaguely registered the way Patrick tapped every door with his index finger twice. He found his room and threw himself down on the bed, Patrick stood in the doorway.

“Oh sweet! You're 212! Right next to me.” He pointed across the hall to room 213, “Across the hall from us is Tyler, he's pretty cool once you get to meet the real one.”

Josh was too tired to question what Patrick meant by “the real one”. He hummed in response and quickly fell back to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yee I like this chapter.
> 
> NOW:  
> I'm going to take a break from posting while I work out this fic,
> 
> I wanted to get the first few chapters out there as a preview while the movie Split was still relevant.
> 
> in the meantime, PLEASE comment your opinions and what you would like to see !!

Josh grabbed an apple and scanned the crowded cafeteria, looking for a place to sit. Clusters of people were to be found around the room. Some of large, intimidating guys, others of giggling girls, and some of nurses tending to the more difficult patients.

He heard a whistle and whipped his head around to one of the back tables. Patrick held one arm up and motioned for him to come over.

At the table was one other guy Josh had never seen, Patrick introduced him as Brendon, who Josh connected was Patrick’s friend who was in for drug addiction. Josh introduced himself and sat down. He studied the room for a few minutes, familiarizing himself with the faces and taking guesses on the other patients’ ailments. The room settled down once everyone had gotten their food and took a seat.

The cafeteria door opened, and a swirl of pink flowers caught Josh's attention. He looked up to see the quiet boy from this morning’s group session walk in. He walked with a bounce in his step and swirl in his hips, accentuated by his flowing flower kimono. Josh's eyebrows furrowed at the dramatic change in Tyler’s demeanor from the first time he had seen him.

Patrick must have noticed too, because the next thing Josh knew Patrick was waving Tyler over. Tyler waved back, smiling brightly. He grabbed a bowl of fruit and cup of vanilla pudding before heading to their table. He sat down across from Josh, and Josh noticed Tyler’s makeup. Josh raised his eyebrows a bit in surprise, trying not to stare. Tyler giggled, and Josh’s heart skipped.

“Like what ya see?” Tyler questioned, blinking at him through false eyelashes.

“I uh, I don’t- I mean yes… I’m-”

Tyler bit his lip, trying to stifle his laughter. “Don’t hurt yourself, pretty boy.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Ves.”

Josh was confused. Was this not Tyler from his group therapy class? He took Ves’ hand, noticing that his arm was covered in fresh wounds and scars. Ves followed his gaze and scoffed, pulling his arm away. He looked at it in disgust.

“Titled has no regard for anyone but himself. We told him right leg only. Must’ve run out of room.” Ves rolled his eyes.

Josh looked to Patrick and Brendon for help. They both seemed unphased by the exchange, Brendon chewing on his sandwich and Patrick cutting his fruit into cubes. Patrick noticed the lull in conversation and turned to Ves.

“It’s good to see you, Ves. How have the others been after last week?”  
  
“We’ve been doing alright. Titled, not so much. He keeps blaming himself for making Blurry snap.”

Patrick nodded in understanding, reaching across the table to squeeze the boy’s hand.

“Ah, enough about _that_. Who’s the new kid?” Ves rested his chin on his hand, studying Josh’s face.

Josh opened his mouth to introduce himself but found himself struggling.

“This is Josh.” Patrick helped.

“I like your hair, Josh. The red suits you.” Ves smiled, eyes sparkling like the glitter on his cheekbones. He popped a piece of honeydew into his mouth.

Josh stuttered out a ‘thank you’ and Ves’ smile faltered. He put his fork down rather abruptly, turning his head to the left as if to hide his face. His head twitched and shook a couple of times before Ves looked forward again. He glanced around the table, eyebrows furrowing a bit as they landed on Josh.

Ves looked down at his outfit and groaned. He turned to Brendon and Patrick, “Do you have a uh…?”

Patrick seemed to understand, and folded up one of his napkins neatly, wetting it with his water bottle. He handed it to Ves, who wiped it across his mouth, removing his lipstick. He pulled off the fake eyelashes and wiped the glitter off his eyelids as well. “I don’t know why he has to put this shit on _my_ face.”

“Hey, ya look good.” Brendon shrugged. “Googly eyes over here seems to think so too.” He gestured to Josh with his thumb and yelped as Patrick kicked his shin under the table.

Ves glanced up, his rose colored lipstick smeared on one side of his mouth. He noticed Josh’s stare and looked away, blushing.

“Oh, uh. I’m sorry for anything Ves said he can be a little… much sometimes.” He said sheepishly.

Josh stuttered. “Uh, n-no you didn’t, err, he didn’t say… much. I’m sorry, I’m a little confused.”

“Multiple personality disorder.” The boy stated simply.

He reached out a hand, “I’m Tyler. I don’t believe we’ve properly met.”

Josh let out a prolonged ‘ohhh’ of understanding and shook Tyler’s hand. “I’m Josh, it’s nice to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Ves 
> 
> (Also please read beginning note)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, I'm going through a bit of a rough time right now and don't have much motivation to write, but i'm trying ! 
> 
> Thank you so much for all of the kind comments, I really appreciate them.

The following night led to another brutal bout of vomiting. Josh spat into the sink and splashed his face with the water before shakily making his way back to his room. 

As he rounded the corner to his corridor he nearly collided with someone on the other side. Once he caught his balance and adjusted his hazy eyes he found it to be Tyler.

“Shit, sorry er, Tyler?” 

He didn't mean for it to come out as a question, and winced slightly. Tyler seemed unphased and laughed lightly.

“Yes, Tyler. Don't worry, you'll learn to tell us apart eventually. You uh, don't look so good. Everything alright?”

Josh nodded, supporting himself against the wall. “Yeah, sorta. Patrick says it's withdrawal. Nausea, shaking, ecetera, ecetera.”

Tyler frowned and moved besides Josh, wrapping an arm around his waist.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you to your room. You look unsteady.”

Josh opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it. He walked with Tyler's help to his room.

“Thanks.” Josh said once he sat down on his bed. He glanced at his alarm clock, seeing that it was 2:30 am. “Why are you wandering the halls at 2:30 in the morning?” He asked Tyler.

Tyler shrugged. “I'm sick of my room. I have trouble just sitting there all night so I like to go for walks sometimes.”

Josh nodded, feeling bad for Tyler as he knew how he felt. Sometimes Josh blamed his insomnia for his drug addiction. Being bored during the nights in his earlier years led to him sneaking out, and there weren't many safe and wholesome things to do out at 3 in the morning. 

The streets late at night is where he picked up his bad habits. Found himself in ‘abandoned’ houses full of addicts, night clubs he was too young to be in, and alleyways sharing pipes and lines with strangers.

Josh blinked away the memories, looking up at where Tyler lingered in the doorway. 

He cleared his throat, “Well uh, you can hang out in here, if you'd like.”

Tyler's face lit up for a second, but then he relaxed against the door frame and threw a hand up dismissively. “Ah, you probably wanna go back to sleep. I can just go… wander.”

“Tyler, it’s fine. Being the only one awake at night sucks. Besides, it'd be cool to get to know you more, being my neighbour and all.”

Tyler smiled and nodded, leaning off the door frame. He sat cross legged on the end of Josh’s bed.

Josh leaned against the headrest, tilting his head back shutting his eyes.

“How’re you feeling?” Tyler ask sympathetically.

“S’not as bad as the first time, but still shitty.”

Tyler nodded, even though Josh couldn’t see. “Do you mind if I ask what got you into drugs? You can ask me whatever you like in return.”

Josh laughed lightly and shrugged, bringing his head down to look at Tyler. “There’s no tragic backstory. I was dumb and got caught up with the wrong people. I was young and thought I was invincible, buuut I got trapped, and now I’m here.”

Tyler furrowed his eyebrows and nodded understandingly. He leaned back on his hands. “Okay, your turn. Shoot.”

Josh thought for a moment, not quite sure what would be crossing the line, but oh did he have so many questions. “How many of you are there?”

“Five.”

Josh’s eyes widened a bit. He tilted his head. “Can you see what the others are doing when they’re in control?”

“It’s up to them. Usually not, because everyone always has something to say and it gets kinda annoying.”

Josh nodded slowly, grasping Tyler’s words and deciding what his next question should be. Tyler seemed to become a little uneasy at the silence. 

“It’s not… I’m not... “ Tyler chewed his bottom lip. “I’m not as crazy as I seem.” He blurted out quickly. “It’s a dissociative thing, from something that happened when I was younger. Sometimes when bad things happen people disconnect from themselves, and parts of them get a little lost. So… we aren’t crazy. I’M not crazy. Just a person… split.”

Josh reached out to squeeze his arm, a bit surprised at his sudden shift in composure. “Hey, you’re good. I don’t think you’re crazy, alright?” 

Tyler let out the breath he was holding and smiled, shaking his head. ‘Sorry, it’s hard telling new people about it because you never know how they’ll react.”

“I get it. It’s not exactly a walk in the park having to introduce myself as a drug addict to nearly everyone I meet in here.” Josh laughed bitterly. “Are they listening right now?”

Tyler nodded, “Mhm.”

"What are they saying?"

Tyler sighed a bit and looked up at the ceiling, listening in. "Titled wants to go back to sleep, Reg is making fun of your hair & I'm not gonna repeat what Ves is saying."

Josh shifted a bit uncomfortably and chuckled. “Fair enough.” 

Tyler shrugged tiredly in response and Josh yawned. “Okay, I’ll let you sleep now. You must feel awful.” He cringed, getting off the bed. “Thank you for letting me hang out for a bit.”

Josh blinked one eye open and gave Tyler a small smile. “You can come talk to me whenever you want, or just come hang out in here if you need some company.”

Tyler smiled warmly and nodded. He backed out of the room, shutting the door behind him.


End file.
